Plasma-Assisted Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles

Abstract

The metal nanoparticles research have attracted great attention due to their unique properties that are significantly different from those of the bulk metal 1 . Among these metals, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are one of the most exploited nanomaterials due to their unusual chemical and physical properties as well as their promising applications in various fields 2 . Therefore, the development of synthesis methodologies that leads to a precise and controlled nanoparticle shape, size and distribution are required 2 . One of the main environmentally friendly techniques for the elaboration of nanoparticles is the use of plasma discharges 3 . In this study, a non-thermal atmospheric pressure Helium plasma jet is used to synthesis silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with AgNO 3 as a precursor and trisodium citrate as a capping agent. The browning of the solution after 5 mins of plasma irradiation was the first indicator of the formation of silver nanoparticles. And that was confirmed by the presence of absorption band in the visible range between 400 and 450 nm resulted of surface plasmon resonance was demonstrated in the UV-Vis spectra. The effect of different chemical parameters such as the concentration of silver nitrate (AgNO 3 ) and the concentration of citrate as well as the effect of different plasma parameters on the Ag nanoparticles have been studied. These nanoparticles were further characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and their size was measured using the Zetasizer nanoZS.